Good morning Obots!
Lenny Wilkens is today’s African American NBA trailblazer.
Lenny Wilkens is a former NBA player and the leagues’ second all-time winningest coach. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a professional player (1989) and twice as a coach (1998) (2010). Wilkins is the only NBA representative listed among both the all-time top 50 players and top 10 coaches.
As a player, Wilkens was a nine-time NBA All-Star team member and Most Valuable Player in 1971. With Seattle, he led the league in assists in the 1969–70 season, and at the time of his retirement, Wilkens was the NBA’s second all-time leading playmaker (assists), behind only Oscar Robertson. He scored 17,772 points during the regular season.
Wilkens was one of the most successful coaches in franchise history for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and Seattle SuperSonics. Despite his many NBA honors, one of his proudest moments was coaching the United States “Dream Team II” to a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. He also was assistant coach of “Dream Team I” in 1992.
Beyond his many successes on the court, Lenny has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Providence College, St. Francis College, and Seattle University. He served as vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics ownership group in 2007. He is the founder of The Lenny Wilkens Foundation, which funds organizations that deliver healthcare and education services to young people while honoring their dignity and sense of self-respect.
